I Fished Two Lakes in One Day with Two VERY Different Experiences

Ray County Lake

About 10 days ago, I had the pleasure to fish an unfamiliar lake with my buddy Eric.  I had scouted the area earlier this summer and I felt like it had some potential to be a good fishery.  The lake has a nice boat ramp, lots of points, some brush piles, and some cover along the bank.  In other words, it just looked fishy.  I was excited to fish this lake with the hope that I had found a lake that I could add to the other lakes in the area that I like to fish.  I'm always looking for a lake that has quality fish that are plentiful.  

To make a long story shorter, Eric and I had minimal success on this lake.  We caught a largemouth, a few bluegill, and a small crappie.  On my way home, I considered all of the factors that could have contributed to our poor performance.  It was the middle of the summer, the water temperature was warm, and the water was pretty murky.  One or all of these components could be the cause of a low catch rate.  The other factor that I kept coming back to was the simple fact that maybe there just aren't many fish in the lake.  That's the hypothesis that I am hanging my hat on.

Eric and I have been fly fishing for years and between us, we have a lot of strategies and techniques.  The fact that we both struggled on this lake fueled my belief that this just isn't a good fishery.  Even with the water temperature, water clarity, and time of year, we should have done better if there were fish to be caught.  As I drove home, a need to test my hypothesis was created and intensified with each turn of my tires.  (Keep scrolling for pictures and info about the rest of my day).

 

Tobacco Hills Lake at Guy B. Park Conservation Area

My wife has a part time job at J & S Pizza in Liberty, Missouri.  She works every Monday night and it just so happened that she had to work on the day that I visited Ray County Lake.  She headed to work at 4:45.  I walked her to her SUV in the driveway, gave her a kiss goodbye, and watched her pull out of the driveway.  As she drove away, I turned around to head back inside our house.  My truck which was still connected to my boat in the driveway softly called to me.  I mean that metaphorically.  Neither my truck nor my boat can actually talk.  I ignored my impulse to go hit another lake and went inside the house.  

My self control lasted for 30 minutes.  I was all caught up on house chores and didn't have a single thing to do.  As I pondered places to visit and whether I should try to redeem myself, he nail in the coffin was when I asked Waylon if he wanted to go fishing.  He ran to the front door, spun around a few times, and gave a small, pathetic whine.  Did I know he was going to behave that way?  Yes I did.  Was I looking for some sort of extra nudge?  Absolutely!

We arrived at Tobacco Hills Lake at about 6:30.  I have fished this lake many times in the past and have had a decent amount of success.  I tend to catch nice sized bluegill, small bass, and crappie from time to time.  The fish tend to be holding to cover and structure and will gladly take a fly down.  As I headed to my first spot, I noticed that the water temperature was actually warmer than Ray County Lake had been earlier in the day.  I thought this was noteworthy because if I DID end up catching fish, then I couldn't blame the water temperature for the lack of success earlier that morning.

It didn't take long before I started to catch fish.  I caught some small bass, some medium-sized bluegill, and some bluegill that were 8 inches.  The action was steady and the fish were cooperative which solidified what I believe to be true about Ray County Lake.  Admittedly, I could be wrong.  Maybe I just caught Ray County Lake on a bad day.  Maybe my techniques that I employed were the wrong ones to use.  Maybe I caught fish at Tobacco Hills because I am more familiar with the fishery.  The sample size that I have for Ray County Lake is small and the sample size is greater with Tobacco Hills.  

While all of those things could be true, I feel like Ray County Lake is a dud and Tobacco Hills is reliable and fun to fish.  So the next time that I decide to hit the water and I mentally run through my list of fishing spots, Ray County Lake will not be on the list.  However, if you have any experience fishing this lake, I would love to hear your about your experiences as well as your opinion.  Feel free to leave a comment on this post or shoot me an email at showmeflyguy@gmail.com.  I have no problem admitting that I am wrong about something, especially when it comes to fishing.